In ancient times, a faithful shepherd was armed with two implements: the rod and the staff. We hear of this in Psalm 23:4, where David says to the Lord, “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” These items were intended, respectively, for defense (the rod) and guidance (the staff). When predators drew near, the shepherd wielded the rod in combat, and when sheep began to stray, he used the curved staff to draw their heads back in line. Likewise, a sound elder is able both to instruct and to rebuke. John Calvin wrote that the elder “ought to have two voices: one for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves.”

在古代，忠實的牧羊人手持兩種工具：杖和杆。我們在詩篇 23 章 4 節中聽到了這一點，其中大衛對主說：“你的杖，你的杆，都安慰我。”這些物品分別用於防禦（杖）和引導（杆）。當掠食者靠近時，牧羊人會揮舞杖進行戰斗，而當羊群開始走失時，他會用彎曲的杆將它們的頭拉回到一條直線上。同樣，健全的長老既能教導，又能責備。約翰·加爾文寫道，長老“應該有兩種聲音：一種是聚集羊群；另一個是用來驅趕狼和盜賊的。”